Whether it is our vehicle fleet, production, or supply chain, we are consistently working to avoid emissions, conserve resources, and continuously improve our ecological footprint. Our goal is to drive decarbonization and, with it, the transformation of the transport sector – step by step, worldwide.
Climate Protection
Our Trucks and Buses: Climate Protection Through Alternative Powertrains
Around 20% of greenhouse gas emissions in Europe are generated by the transport of goods and people. The automotive industry is therefore subject to global climate regulations. The targets in the EU are particularly ambitious: By 2025, CO₂ emissions from new trucks and buses are to be reduced by an average of 15%, and by 2030, the goal is a 45% reduction compared to 2019 levels.
We take this responsibility seriously and actively shape the transformation. Our ambition: We strive for our new trucks and buses to be locally CO₂e free in Europe, US and Japan by 2039. Globally, we aim to achieve this by 2050.
To reach this goal, we rely on two powertrain technologies – battery-electric and hydrogen. Already today, we have eleven battery-electric truck and bus models in series production in Europe, the USA, and Japan, which are CO₂e-free in operation. We have also made significant progress in hydrogen: our first fuel-cell truck prototypes, the Mercedes-Benz GenH2 Truck, are already being intensively tested on public roads in Germany and across Europe.
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Shaping the Infrastructure
For our vehicles to operate CO₂e-free in everyday use, innovative technology alone is not enough – the right infrastructure is equally crucial. Only when both come together can the mobility transition succeed. Together with strong partners, we therefore promote the expansion of a comprehensive charging infrastructure for locally CO₂e-free transport – for both battery-electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles.
We believe that transforming passenger and freight transport can only be achieved through a joint effort by governments, vehicle manufacturers, technology providers, and energy companies. That is why we not only bring locally CO₂e-free vehicles to market but also accelerate the development of the necessary charging infrastructure. In doing so, we aim to continuously increase the adoption of locally CO₂e-free vehicles while simultaneously reducing the number of conventional vehicles.
We collaborate with partners through joint ventures such as Milence in Europe, Greenlane in the USA, and H2 MOBILITY, which acts as a catalyst for expanding charging and refueling infrastructure – for both battery-electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles.
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Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) at Daimler Truck
Daimler Truck has introduced a TÜV-certified guideline for Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) according to DIN ISO 14040/14044. This establishes a uniform global standard for conducting life cycle analyses of our vehicles – an important step toward greater transparency, efficiency, and comparability.
An LCA captures the environmental impacts of a vehicle across its entire life cycle – from raw material extraction through production and use to recycling and reuse. For example, it makes the CO₂e footprint visible across all phases.
To date, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) results for our trucks are primarily shared by our sales team during new product launches. For our bus counterparts, however, the results are published in standardized Environmental Product Declarations (EDPs) (simply put: an even more detailed form of an LCA) due to requirements within the tender business and are available to customers and other interested parties via the official EPD database. LCAs are already available for numerous models in the Daimler Truck portfolio, including the Mercedes-Benz Actros and the battery-electric variant Mercedes-Benz eActros 600, the Freightliner Cascadia and the battery-electric variant Freightliner eCascadia, as well as for the Mercedes-Benz battery-electric eCitaro and eCitaro fuel cell. Further models will be added continuously.
On the Way to CO₂e-Neutral Production
To further advance climate and environmental protection in our production, we launched the “Green Production 2030” initiative.
Step by step, we aim to decarbonize our production. By 2030, we plan to reduce CO₂e emissions (Scope 1 & 2) at all Daimler Truck production sites by 42% compared to 2021.
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Switching to Renewable Energy
To achieve our climate target, we are systematically transforming our energy supply: we purchase green electricity and expand on-site energy generation at our production locations. By 2030, at least 55% of the energy we use is to come from renewable sources.
Since 2022, we have been sourcing electricity from wind, solar, and hydro power at our production sites in Europe, Japan, and India. In the USA, Brazil, and South Africa, part of the energy supply is already covered by renewables. We continue to expand this: by 2030, all remaining sites worldwide will follow.
In addition to purchasing green electricity, we are advancing on-site renewable energy generation. Globally, we have already installed approximately 40.6 MWp of photovoltaic modules at our production sites. This steadily increases the use of renewable energy on-site and, in 2024, generated 35.7 GWh of electricity from solar power. The deployment of photovoltaic systems at our sites is being expanded continuously.
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Less Energy, More Efficiency
We are also systematically reducing our energy consumption: by 2030, we aim to cut it by around 590 GWh through efficiency measures – compared to the 2013/2014 baseline. This corresponds to the annual electricity consumption of approximately 150,000 average households.
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Compensation as a Transitional Solution
Where emissions cannot yet be avoided, we rely on compensation – through verified climate protection projects certified according to the WWF Gold Standard. At our European production sites and other selected locations, we already offset all remaining CO₂e emissions.
Our goal: We want to realize CO₂e neutrality on the balance sheet at our production sites globally by 2039. We view compensation as a transitional measure on the path to a fully CO₂e neutral production, which we aim to achieve by 2050.
The Supply Chain Matters Too
It is not only our own emissions that are in focus: we also take a close look at emissions across our supply chain. Our measures address both our suppliers as business partners and the purchased parts and materials, as well as the transport routes to our production sites. We strive together with our direct suppliers for CO₂e neutral products and services in Europe, the USA and Japan by 2039 – and globally by 2050.
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Our Materials: Selected with Responsibility
Using life cycle assessments, we have determined the material composition of our products – identifying the main contributors to greenhouse gas emissions in the supply chain. Particularly relevant are the production processes for raw materials such as steel, aluminum, and plastics.
Going forward, we aim to more strongly consider the CO₂e footprint of materials in new projects and procurement decisions. To promote the sourcing of sustainable production materials, we systematically integrate relevant metrics, such as CO₂e emissions, into our business processes. A higher proportion of recycled materials can also play an important role.
In addition, we work with the CDP Supply Chain program, which supports our suppliers in measuring and reducing their CO₂ emissions.
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Locally CO₂e-Free Transport to Our Plants
As part of our climate protection measures, we also focus on the transport routes to our plants – increasingly relying on electric trucks.
A key milestone: in the coming years, we plan to continuously electrify all inbound logistics to our largest assembly plant in Wörth – together with our logistics service providers and carriers. The necessary charging infrastructure is being installed on-site and will be used by both our partners and company-owned vehicles. We intend to expand this concept to other plants as well.
Our Ambitions at a Glance
Overall Ambitions
- We strive for our new trucks and buses to be locally CO2e free in Europe, US and Japan by 2039 – and globally by 2050.
- We want to realize CO2e neutrality* on the balance sheet at our production sites globally by 2039.
- We strive together with our direct suppliers for CO2e neutral products and services in Europe, the USA and Japan by 2039 – and globally by 2050.
Additional Targets
- We aim to reduce Scope 1 & 2 emissions at all Daimler Truck production sites by 42% by 2030 compared to 2021.
- All our production sites worldwide are to use only green electricity by 2030 at the latest.
- By 2030, we aim to reduce the energy consumption of our production by approximately 590 GWh compared to 2013/2014 through improved energy efficiency.
